o5iiawah:Can someone knowledgeable with the subtle nuances of baseball explain why a team's best player and ace pitcher is being "Shut down"?

because he doesn't appear hurt and if his inning counts were high, wouldn't it make sense to have him take off a month and then throw again in the playoffs?

The management farked it up. If they were worried about a pitch and innings count they would have shut him down mid season or early part of the season and have him come back while still available for the playoffs AND maintaining his pitching limit.

Now they are trying to play games to hide their incompetence. And if you havent made the playoffs in 80 years i think thats pretty evident to people. No need to hide it.

o5iiawah:Can someone knowledgeable with the subtle nuances of baseball explain why a team's best player and ace pitcher is being "Shut down"?

because he doesn't appear hurt and if his inning counts were high, wouldn't it make sense to have him take off a month and then throw again in the playoffs?

As best I can tell, it's because after Tommy John Surgery, a player has to limit his innings for the first couple of years after he returns. If the Nationals weren't a playoff contender, no one would notice or likely even care. I agree that they should've saved him, but hopefully it doesn't hurt the team. He'll be able to do more next year.

o5iiawah:Can someone knowledgeable with the subtle nuances of baseball explain why a team's best player and ace pitcher is being "Shut down"?

because he doesn't appear hurt and if his inning counts were high, wouldn't it make sense to have him take off a month and then throw again in the playoffs?

He is a gifted young pitcher who recently had tommy John surgery. The nationals have invested millions of dollars in this kid with the hopes of him pitching for them for a very long time. it has been shown that pitchers shouldn't be burdened with a huge innings load so early in their careers, especially pitchers with mechanics like his. See mark prior as an example of what happens when you overwork a young pitcher (he and Strasbourg have similar mechanics).

The nationals are hedging their bets and don't want to be the team that ruined what could possibly be a once in a lifetime hall of fame career (again mark prior re: cubs).

It sucks but their damned if they do and probably damned if they don't. .

If you were to reform Gondwana, you could wedge him in between Africa, Antarctica, and India?Less than 10% of him is covered in old growth forest?No living person has seen an elephant bird nesting on him?There is a legend that he was once used as a port for pirates?

o5iiawah:Can someone knowledgeable with the subtle nuances of baseball explain why a team's best player and ace pitcher is being "Shut down"?

because he doesn't appear hurt and if his inning counts were high, wouldn't it make sense to have him take off a month and then throw again in the playoffs?

The science behind how many innings he could/should throw is very up in the air, so no one really has a surefire answer.

And baseball's pretty traditional, especially in this case. No one wants to "rock the boat" by putting Strasburg in a position he's not used to, such as taking time off and then coming back.

The Nats decided that he'd throw 160ish innings or whatever and then be shut down. They're sticking with that decision. If nothing else, you have to respect their consistency. They think this is the best plan for him and are sticking to it.

There are a bunch of young pitchers who get bounced between the bullpen and rotation some, and sometimes this throws them out of whack. More than anything else, the Nats want Strasburg pitching only how he's used to pitching.

Cubs300:He is a gifted young pitcher who recently had tommy John surgery. The nationals have invested millions of dollars in this kid with the hopes of him pitching for them for a very long time. it has been shown that pitchers shouldn't be burdened with a huge innings load so early in their careers, especially pitchers with mechanics like his. See mark prior as an example of what happens when you overwork a young pitcher (he and Strasbourg have similar mechanics).

The nationals are hedging their bets and don't want to be the team that ruined what could possibly be a once in a lifetime hall of fame career (again mark prior re: cubs).

It sucks but their damned if they do and probably damned if they don't. .

Doesn't it make more sense to taper off his innings during the season or have him skip the odd start here or there so they have him for the whole season and possibly the playoffs?

Fallout Zone:Why couldn't the Nats have skipped every other one of Strasburg's starts over the last month or two and just have him soft toss on the day of his skipped start?

Problem with that strategy, is the limited roster size. If you are going to have him pitch on 10 days rest then who pitches when he normally would? So you're either bouncing a guy from the bullpen and rotation and back and forth (never works out) or taking a roster spot away from the bullpen/bench which can be quite harmful in the NL.

o5iiawah:Can someone knowledgeable with the subtle nuances of baseball explain why a team's best player and ace pitcher is being "Shut down"?

because he doesn't appear hurt and if his inning counts were high, wouldn't it make sense to have him take off a month and then throw again in the playoffs?

It's really quite simple. The Nats' management has a few million dollars invested in him. They want to get their money's worth. The experts all agree (the REAL experts) that its very bad for a YOUNG pitcher to have a huge increase in innings pitched the year after returning from tendon replacement surgery (historically they get bad shoulders). The guy who did the surgery agrees. The only people who are whining about this are people with nothing at state, Very FEW Nationals' fans are upset about this. We have a replacement pitcher for the regular season and you only need 4 starters for the playoffs, and we still have the best pitching staff in baseball even without Strasburg (who is not our best pitcher; he's second, or more probably third, at present). And I can see that there are a lot of people here who don't know anything about the care and feeding of big league pitchers.

I get the whole 'they should've rested him sooner' thing, but seriously, no one on that team expected to be at this spot in September. I bet half of them have had to cancel vacations because they're going to be busier longer than expected.

Mark my words, the Nationals have not only screwed themselves out of the 2012 World Series, they also just screwed themselves out of resigning Strasburg when his contract is up, because he will no doubt cite this as a reason to go elsewhere after next year for mega bucks.

Behold, the beginning of the Strasburg Curse of the Washington Nationals.

Kouvre:Mark my words, the Nationals have not only screwed themselves out of the 2012 World Series, they also just screwed themselves out of resigning Strasburg when his contract is up, because he will no doubt cite this as a reason to go elsewhere after next year for mega bucks.

Behold, the beginning of the Strasburg Curse of the Washington Nationals.

Kouvre:Mark my words, the Nationals have not only screwed themselves out of the 2012 World Series, they also just screwed themselves out of resigning Strasburg when his contract is up, because he will no doubt cite this as a reason to go elsewhere after next year for mega bucks.

Behold, the beginning of the Strasburg Curse of the Washington Nationals.

Generation_D:now they're claiming it was for mental reasons. snowflake cant pitch cause he needs a nap?

It's 'mental reasons' why it's today and not after one more start or two more starts.

Fallout Zone:Why couldn't the Nats have skipped every other one of Strasburg's starts over the last month or two and just have him soft toss on the day of his skipped start?

They did some of this with Jordan Zimmerman and the wheels kinda came off last year. Also, the Nats have never even had a winning season, so I doubt anyone was convinced they'd cruise to a division title.

Generation_D:now they're claiming it was for mental reasons. snowflake cant pitch cause he needs a nap?

Or his bosses have gone out and told everyone that he's not going to get to pitch before anyone told him. These two bosses have gone back and forth on what the inning limit will be, and so for the last 2-3 months the media hounds him every single day about when he has to stop doing what he wants to be out there doing.

Generation_D:now they're claiming it was for mental reasons. snowflake cant pitch cause he needs a nap?

The shutdown has been planned for months, but it was originally scheduled to happen after his next start, but after the beat down he took in his last start they decided to shut him down a game early.

And for all of those who said they should have rested him earlier and then brought him back for the playoff run, the Nats probably wouldn't have been in the position to make the playoffs without the pitching he provided during the season.

I still have the opinion that if the Nats don't at least get to the World Series without Strasburg, both Davey Johnson and Mike Rizzo should be fired. If you wanted a museum piece, you shoulda gone to the Smithsonian.

Kouvre:Mark my words, the Nationals have not only screwed themselves out of the 2012 World Series, they also just screwed themselves out of resigning Strasburg when his contract is up, because he will no doubt cite this as a reason to go elsewhere after next year for mega bucks.

Behold, the beginning of the Strasburg Curse of the Washington Nationals.

So, you think in 6 or 7 years, if Strasburg has the kind of record that will make the Yankees or some other rich team out-bid the Nats (highly unlikely, they are a VERY rich ownership deal, Lerners) he will leave without his agent Boras reminding him of how they took care to not injure his pitching shoulder? If you really think that will happen you will have, by that time, bought every frigging bridge in New York City. Strasburg, by the way, just frigging LOVES his teammates. He's also go more money than he needs for the rest of his life thanks to the Nationals. People who believe in curses are also truthers and birthers.

MartinD-35:Kouvre: Mark my words, the Nationals have not only screwed themselves out of the 2012 World Series, they also just screwed themselves out of resigning Strasburg when his contract is up, because he will no doubt cite this as a reason to go elsewhere after next year for mega bucks.

Behold, the beginning of the Strasburg Curse of the Washington Nationals.

So, you think in 6 or 7 years, if Strasburg has the kind of record that will make the Yankees or some other rich team out-bid the Nats (highly unlikely, they are a VERY rich ownership deal, Lerners) he will leave without his agent Boras reminding him of how they took care to not injure his pitching shoulder? If you really think that will happen you will have, by that time, bought every frigging bridge in New York City. Strasburg, by the way, just frigging LOVES his teammates. He's also go more money than he needs for the rest of his life thanks to the Nationals. People who believe in curses are also truthers and birthers.

Also, if Strasburg had troubles with his concentration because of his impending shut down (Davey Johnson and Mike Rizzo quotes) how well do you think he'll like New York's press pestering him about how many times he farks his wife and when is he going to stop farking sheep and abusing children?

Cubs300:o5iiawah: Can someone knowledgeable with the subtle nuances of baseball explain why a team's best player and ace pitcher is being "Shut down"?

because he doesn't appear hurt and if his inning counts were high, wouldn't it make sense to have him take off a month and then throw again in the playoffs?

He is a gifted young pitcher who recently had tommy John surgery. The nationals have invested millions of dollars in this kid with the hopes of him pitching for them for a very long time. it has been shown that pitchers shouldn't be burdened with a huge innings load so early in their careers, especially pitchers with mechanics like his. See mark prior as an example of what happens when you overwork a young pitcher (he and Strasbourg have similar mechanics).

The nationals are hedging their bets and don't want to be the team pidity ruined what could possibly be a once in a lifetime hall of fame career (again mark prior re: cubs).

It sucks but their damned if they do and probably damned if they don't. .

It's just plain studipidity is what it is. Any player would trade his hall of fame career if it got a shot at winning the world series